Editing History of mathematics (section)

== Maya ==
[[File:Maya Hieroglyphs Fig 40.jpg|thumb|The [[Maya numerals]] for numbers 1 through 19, written in the [[Maya script]]]]
In the [[Pre-Columbian Americas]], the [[Maya civilization]] that flourished in [[Mexico]] and [[Central America]] during the 1st millennium AD developed a unique tradition of mathematics that, due to its geographic isolation, was entirely independent of existing European, Egyptian, and Asian mathematics.<ref name="Goodman 2016 p121">{{Harv|Goodman|2016|p=121}}</ref> [[Maya numerals]] used a [[Radix|base]] of twenty, the [[vigesimal]] system, instead of a base of ten that forms the basis of the [[decimal]] system used by most modern cultures.<ref name="Goodman 2016 p121"/> The Maya used mathematics to create the [[Maya calendar]] as well as to predict astronomical phenomena in their native [[Maya astronomy]].<ref name="Goodman 2016 p121"/> While the concept of [[zero]] had to be inferred in the mathematics of many contemporary cultures, the Maya developed a standard symbol for it.<ref name="Goodman 2016 p121"/>